VIEWS  OF 


UPTON'S 

CEYLON 
TEA  ESTATES 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 

JOSEPH  M.BRANSTEN 
COFFEE  &  TEA  COLLECTION 

Acquired  in  memory  of 
JOSEPH  M.  BRANSTEN 


Lipton's  Ceylon  Tea  Estates 


Views  of 


THOMAS  J.  LIPTON 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 


m 


Lipton's  Tea 


A  was  first  grown  in  Ceylon  in  the  late  sixties  and  it  does  not 
appear  in  the  Customs  list  of  exports  until  1873,  when  23  pounds 
valued  at  about  $28.00  were  shipped  to  London.  1900  pounds 
were  shipped  the  following  year,  and  from  that  time  its  sale  had 
grown  steadily  and  so  rapidly  that  in  1911  over  186,000,000 
pounds  were  shipped  from  Ceylon  to  various  parts  of  the  world. 

The  Tea  plant  is  like  a  camelia  with  a  pretty  white  flower,  sweet  scented 
and  not  unlike  a  single  rose.  If  allowed  to  grow  wild,  it  grows  straight  up  about 
twenty  feet  high,  like  a  handsome  leafy  tree,  but  when  cultivated  it  is  a  bush 
kept  down  by  frequent  pruning  to  the  height  of  about  three  feet.  It  grows  at 
almost  any  elevation  in  Ceylon,  from  the  hot  flatlands  down  at  the  sea  level 
right  up  to  the  cold  wet  hills  six  thousand  and  more  feet  above  the  sea,  and 
generally  speaking,  the  higher  it  is  grown  the  better  the  Tea.  Only  the  tender 
young  shoots  or  buds  are  marketed, — the  older  leaves  being  too  coarse  in  flavor, 
and  the  bushes  have  to  be  plucked  every  eight  to  twelve  days  in  order  to  keep 
the  shoots  from  growing  too  big. 

Ceylon  is  often  claimed  to  have  the  best  labor  forces  in  the  world,  and 
certainly  they  are  on  the  whole  a  happy  and  contented  people.  Almost  every 
Estate  of  any  size,  and  they  vary  from  a  few  acres  to  several  square  mites,  is 
under  English  Management,  and  some  of  the  larger  ones  have  quite  a  number 


of  English  assistants,  who  supervise  every  stage  of  the  cultivation  and  manu- 
facture. It  is  this  careful  attention  to  purity  and  cleanliness  of  method  which 
has  given  Ceylon  Tea  the  world-wide  name  it  now  enjoys  for  wholesome  and 
refreshing  qualities  not  found  in  all  other  Teas,  even  though  they  may  be  the 
product  of  exactly  similar  bushes. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  coolies  muster  for  work,  and  the  assistant  Sinna- 
duria,  or  the  "  Little  Master  "  as  the  coolies  call  him,  send  them  to  their  various 
jobs  in  gangs  under  the  authority  of  their  own  headman,— some  of  them  to  prune; 
some  to  carry  manure;  others  to  pluck,  and  so  forth.  The  first  stage  in  the 
preparation  of  the  Tea  is  the  plucking.  The  tips  of  the  young  shoots  are 
plucked  from  the  top  of  the  bush  and  dropped  into  baskets  which  hang  on  their 
backs.  These  are  conveyed  to  the  factory,  a  large  airy  building  generally 
situated  by  a  stream,  which  has  wide  lofts,  one  above  another,  with  abundant 
space  in  which  to  spread  the  leaves  to  wither.  At  the  end  of  twelve  hours  or  so, 
it  is  then  ready  to  roll,  and  it  is  let  down  from  the  withering  lofts  through'the 
chute  into  the  rollers,  which  are  heavy  pieces  of  machinery  that  turn  it  over 
and  over,  and  round  and  round,  until  it  has  lost  all  semblance  to  the  leaf  of  a 
tree  and  becomes  a  mass  of  twisted,  green  wisps  of  dampness.  This  takes  several 
hours  to  complete,  and  has  to  be  done  slowly,  so  that  the  leaf  may  be  well 
twisted  without  being  broken.  After  the  rolling  is  over  it  is  sifted  into  grades 
of  various  sizes  and  placed  in  a  very  cool  room  to  ferment  for  a  short  time, 
during  which  it  turns  from  green  to  a  bright  brown  color.  When  this  process  is 
completed,  it  is  then  taken  up  upon  trays  of  fine  wire  mesh  which  fit  into  an 


automatic  firing  machine.  Hot  air  is  forced  by  a  fan  through  the  machine  and 
after  a  few  minutes  the  wet  brown  leaf  is  changed  into  the  black  crisp  tea  of 
commerce, — all  further  fermentation  being  checked  by  the  heat,  and  the  pleasant 
qualities  of  the  Tea  permanently  conserved  until  again  released  by  the  spell 
of  the  boiling  water  in  the  tea-pot.  All  that  then  remains  to  be  done  is  to 
sort  the  tea  into  various  grades  — still  known  by  their  old  Chinese  names  of 
Pekoe,  Souchong,  etc.,  to  pack  for  the  markets  of  the  world.  The  sorting  and 
packing  are  done  automatically  by  machinery,  so  that  from  first  to  last,  Ceylon 
Tea  is  handled  as  little  as  possible  by  human  beings  during  its  manufacture, 
and  as  much  as  is  feasible  by  machinery,  insuring  the  cleanliness  for  which 
Ceylon  Teas  are  noted.  The  machinery  is  worked  by  water  power  or  oil  engines, 
but  more  generally  by  the  former,  for  the  Tea  Estates  are  mostly  in  the  hills, 
where  it  is  not  difficult  to  get  a  sufficient  fall  of  water  to  round  a  turbine.  Owing 
to  the  necessity  of  manufacturing  Tea  as  soon  as  possible  after  it  is  picked  to 
insure  the  flavor  of  it  being  preserved,  no  Tea  in  Ceylon  is  made  in  factories 
situated  in  towns.  Each  Estate  or  group  of  Estates  has  its  own  factory  in  the 
middle  of  hundreds  of  acres  of  Tea  and  is  open  to  the  four  winds  of  Heaven. 

It  has  been  briefly  described  above  how  Tea  is  made  from  the  leaf  into 
what  we  buy  from  the  grocer,  but  that  does  not  by  any  means  constitute  the 
whole  of  the  Planter's  work.  He  has  to  manage,  keep  in  order  and  look  after 
the  health  and  happiness  of  a  force  of  many  hundreds  of  coolies,  for  an  Estate 
of  a  thousand  acres  requires  between  six  and  seven  hundred  coolies,  for  which 
quarters  have  to  be  found,  and  these  are  built  under  the  direct  supervision  of 


the  Planter.  Then  there  is  the  planning  out  and  cutting  of  all  the  roads  on  the 
Estate,  for  little  paths  must  wind  around  every  hill  and  across  each  ravine  for 
the  quick  transport  of  the  leaf  to  the  factory.  After  the  first  clearing  and 
planting  of  the  Estate,  no  further  planting  of  Tea  is  necessary  except  to  fill 
in  gaps  and  replace  dead  or  sickly  bushes,  for  as  far  as  we  know  the  Tea  bush 
will  thrive  indefinitely.  The  oldest  Tea  in  Ceylon  is  forty-six  years  old  and  is 
still  growing  strong.  Pruning  is  heavy  work,  which  must  be  done  every  two  or 
three  years.  The  wood  of  the  tea  bush  is  hard  and  the  branches  are  tough,  so 
that  pruning  is  generally  considered  most  difficult  work  for  the  coolies,  also 
requiring  the  most  careful  attention  of  the  Manager. 

The  making  of  Tea  is  very  simple,  yet  it  is  remarkable  how  many  who  pride 
themselves  on  their  housekeeping  qualities  fail  to  do  themselves  justice  in  this 
direction.  Ceylon  Tea  is  stronger  than  China  or  Japan  Tea  and  less  should  be 
used  to  appreciate  its  delicate  flavor.  Two  teaspoonsful  is  ample  for  four 
ordinary  cups.  The  tea-pot  should  be  of  earthenware  or  china,  and  it  is  prefer- 
able to  use  a  lift-out  receptacle  for  holding  the  Tea  leaves.  Before  the  leaf  is 
put  into  the  tea-pot,  the  tea-pot  should  be  thoroughly  warmed  by  rinsing  it 
with  hot  water,  then  sufficient  tea  should  be  put  into  the  empty  tea-pot  to  suit 
requirements,  and  absolutely  boiling  water  poured  on  to  the  tea  in  the  pot.  Hot 
water  will  not  do;  it  must  be  boiling.  After  pouring  the  boiling  water  on  the 
Tea,  the  leaf  should  be  allowed  to  infuse  for  four  or  five  minutes,  not  longer. 
The  receptacle  in  which  it  lies  should  then  be  lifted  out  and  the  Tea  is  then 
ready  for  drinking.  All  the  good  qualities  in  Tea  are  extracted  inside  of  five 


minutes,  and  after  that  time  further  extraction  does  not  add  to  the  real  value 
of  the  Tea  as  a  gentle  stimulant.  That  is  why  the  leaves  should  be  removed,— 
they  should  not  be  used  again.  If  the  tea-pot  has  not  a  lift-out  receptacle, 
then  have  a  second  tea-pot  already  heated,  and  pour  the  infusion  from  the  first 
pot  into  it.  When  the  tea  is  prepared  in  this  way  by  the  hostess,  her  friends 
will  be  delighted  at  the  superior  and  wonderful  refreshing  qualities  of  the  beverage 
provided  for  them. 

In  1900  Ceylon  Tea  was  hardly  known  in  the  United  States,  yet  within  a 
few  years  it  has  become  very  popular,  and  will  shortly  be  the  most  popular  Tea 
in  America,  as  it  has  become  in  the  great  tea  drinking  countries  of  the  world. 

The  photographs  in  the  succeeding  pages  will  give  you  some  idea  of  this 
wonderful  industry  in  the  marvellous  country  known  as  the  Island  of  Ceylon. 


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Mustering  of  natives  at  Dambatenne  Estate. 


Lipton's  Tea  Factor)-,  Bunyan  Estate. 


Lipton's  Tea  factory,  Laymastotte  Estate. 


Another  view  of  Lipton's  Tea  Factor)',  Laymastotte. 


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Lipton's  Tea  Factory,  Eadella  Estate. 


Mustering  of  coolies. 


Troupe  of  native  dancers. 


Plucking  the  Tea. 


Weighing  the  plucked  Tea. 


Sorting  the  leaf. 


Despatching  Tea  to  the  Factory. 


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Tea  leaving  the  factory  for  shipment. 


Tea  wagons  on  way  to  wharf. 


Loading  elephants  in  Ceylon. 


Wagons  being  loaded  at  Dambatenne  Estate. 


Cingalese  native  dance. 


Loading  Tea  for  export. 


Lipton's  Shipping  Warehouse,  Colombo. 


Landing  jetty,  Colombo,|  Ceylon. 


Barges  delivering  Tea  to  steamer. 


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